Renewable reservoir safety mop



Sept. 24, 1963 c. c. FIGGE RENEWABLE RESERVOIR SAFETY MOP Filed Aug. 5, 1957 INVENTOR.

(JAR/POLL 0. F/GGE ATT'Y United States Patent 3,l 4,414 RENEWABLE REfiERVOiR SAFETY M0? (Iarroli C. Figge, Batavia, ll]. (189 W. Madison St, Chicago, ill.) Filed Aug. 5, 1957, Ser. No. 676,123 9 Ciaims. (Q. -537) This invention relates in general to cotton yarn and fiber glass mops which are generally used wherever applicable and is more particularly described as a fibrous mop of this kind for applying bituminous material to roofs and other surfaces. Fibrous cord or yarn mops are commonly used in swabbing roof decks with hot bituminous material and frequently the fibers become so heated because of the material that when placed aside after use, the heated fibers are fanned into flame by a breeze or blast of air which results in a fire long after the mop has been used.

Further objections to mops of this kind are that only the outer ends of many mops are used resulting in a loss of material; that such mops are not protected after use; that the absorbent portion of the fibers is not sufiiciently used in holding and transferring additional bituminous or other liquid material; that the end of the mop surfaces is not presented at the right angle to the floor; that no reservoir is provided for feeding material to a mop of this kind; that the mop surface is not adequately supported at the outside so that it may be projected for use and withdrawn for safety; that no reservoir valve is provided for controlling the feeding of material to the mops; that the fibers are matted together at the end instead of being spaced apart for the passage of fluid from a reservoir to the mop; and that inadequate means is provided for protecting the mop, after it has been used, from dirt and the possibility of fire.

The above and other objections are overcome by the present invention which includes the following objects, among others: to provide a fibrous strand mop with a protecting casing in which the mop is movable to project and withdraw one end of the mop therefrom and thereinto; to provide improved means at one end for mounting a mop to move it in a protecting casing; to support the mop at a proper angle so that the end of the mop will be worn evenly and at right angles to its axis; to provide a reservoir for feeding additional liquid material to a mop; to include a readily controlled valve for feeding the contents of a reservoir to a mop; to provide improved means for supporting the fibers of a mop; and in general to produce the safety mop structures herein shown and described.

Other objects of the invention Will appear in the specification and will be apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

PEG. 1 is a sectional view of a mop in accordance with this invention having means for advancing and retracting a mop operable from the top of the enclosing casing and having a reservoir and a valve therefor also operable at the top of the casing;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a cartridge mop having fibrous strands enclosed in a casing in which the mop is movable; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a clam bucket type of fire protector with parts hinged together at the side and having a separate bottom.

This invention adds safety and longer life to the use of mops particularly in the roofing industry by utilizing a greater proportion of the mop fibers, by protecting and exposing only a portion of the outermost fibers which are being used, by providing fibers which may be advanced from a holder when the outermost fibers become worn or broken off, and to retract the fibers within at protecting 3 ,l MA l 4 Patented Sept. 24, 1953 shell when the mopping operation is complete; to provide a valve operated reservoir which may be operated manually or by the foot of an operator while the mop is in use, to provide a handle attached at the proper angle to support the mop in upright position where the fibers are substantially at right angles to the surface to which they are applied, and to enclose the end of a mop, or an entire mop in a protecting holder so that a mop after use is not likely to burst out or to be fanned into flame by a breeze which strikes the mop but is enclosed and protected therefrom.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, this invention relates particularly to an improvement in the construction and operation of an ordinary yarn or fiber mop. In using a fiber mop of this kind, the outer end is worn or broken off by abrasion, rubbing it back and forth on the surfaces of a roof deck, upon insulating material or roofing material, and it is applied at the end by a handle in such an inclined position that the abrasive action upon the outer mop end is at the proper usable or destructive angle.

In the present invention, a fibrous mop has a plurality of fibers 12 of cotton yarn, glass, fiber or other materials which are looped over a supporting ring 14 which may be circular in form if the desired mop is circular, the ring having a twisted loop with bendable wire extremities 16 inserted through a supporting plate 78 and the upper ends bent or clinched in place. With this construction, the strands or fibers 12 of the mop are easily assembled in position upon the ring to fill out a large or small circle, the mop will flare at the inner or outer sides of the ring 14, forming a substantial mop unit, readily attached by the ring in any desired position.

In this construction, there is a central space or duct 20 at the top of the mop which may be used for feeding material from a reservoir 22 attached to an upper end 112 of a casing for enclosing the mop attached to the upper side of the supporting plate 78 and through which the extremities of the wire ring 14 are inserted for holding the mop in place.

Around the center of the bottom of the reservoir 22 are feeding openings to register with feeding openings 114 at the top of the casing 110.

In the center of the reservoir 22 is a rotary valve sleeve having a bottom with feeding openings 24 therein to register with the openings at the bottom of the reservoir and therefore with openings 114 at the top of the casing. This sleeve may be secured for rotation in the bottom of the reservoir in any suitable manner as, for example, by means of a flanged member 28 secured to the lower end of the sleeve and a securing flange 30 attached to the bottom of the reservoir in which the sleeve 26 and its flanged member 28 may be freely rotatable. Near the lower end of the sleeve 26 in the outer wall are a plurality of openings 32 forming a passageway for material from the inside of the reservoir 22 through the bottom of the sleeve. At the bottom of the sleeve is a plate 34 having feeding openings 24 registering with openings in the bottom of the reservoir and with the registering openings 114 in the top of the casing. Thus when the sleeve 26 is turned, the openings 24 will register more or less with the openings 36 through the reservoir and the casing to form a valve controlling the flow of liquid from the reservoir 22 into the casing 110 attached thereto and into the mop and central recess or duct 20' at the top of the mop and directly below the valve opening.

In order to rotate the valve sleeve 26, an arm 38 is attached at the upper end thereof which projects outwardly and over an inwardly curved upper flange 40 of the reservoir 22 so that the sleeve may be accurately moved or set to feed a predetermined amount of material from the reservoir to the upper end of the casing and mop by the rotation of the sleeve. The upper inwardly turned flange 4% terminates at a distance from the sleeve 26 so that material may be poured freely into the reservoir around the sleeve and the flange 4!) acts as an anti-splash rim to limit splashing of the material from the reservoir. This controlling arm 38 is located at the top of the casing in such a position that it is freely accessible and may be turned if desired by the foot of an operator of the mop.

Anadjustable and renewable mop may be mounted in a casing 1 1% by means of a screw 9%} which extends centrally through the valve means and the reservoir 22 to the side of the latter. The lower end of this screw is attached by an unthreaded part 9 projecting through the mop mounting head '78 and having a cotter pin or other fastening means at the under side of the head. At the top of the casing is a threaded block 118 secured to the inside of the end plate 112 through which the screw extends, the upper end of which projects upwardly beyond the reservoir and is provided with a knob 9.2 by means of which the screw may be inserted. or withdrawn for lowering or raising the mop in the casing. In this block 118 may be openings 12% which register with the perforations 114 of the end plate 112 and likewise with the feeding openings 36 in the bottom of the reservoir.

With this construction, the mop is readily held in up right position with a handle 116 secured to a casing at a normal operating angle, with a downwardly projecting portion of the mop strands in proper relation to the surface over which the mop is moved. The reservoir 22 at the top of the mop is likewise in an upright position so that additional material may be fed at the top of the mop through the reservoir and through the valve means which is adjusted by moving the arm to admit more or less liquid into the reservoir at the top of the mop. The screw 90 may also be rotated to advance or withdraw the projecting ends of the mop strands more or less into the casing 110.

A.mop unit may be supplied with an enclosing cover 122 of fibrous material such as canvas or rayon, or of thin metal such as aluminum or other foil. This cover is to permit the mop fibers to slip more freely in a casing 116 and in a similar casing 82 as propelled by a screw 90 for the reduction of frictional resistances and for protecting the mop unit. I

In FIG. 3, a circular casing 134 with a domed top 136 may be divided longitudinally and provided with hinges 138 at the edges or at the top to swing the sections apart to enclose a mop therein. If the casing is applied to a conventional mop, and a mop handle 132 as shown, openings 140 are provided at the top through which a mopstick 132 extends, and for angularly projecting handle 116, registering openings 142 are provided at the side joining edges thereof, latches 144 are provided at the meeting edges of the casing for holding the portions thereof together, and a bottom plate 146 is supplied which may be attached to either one of the casing portions when a mop is inserted therein.

These protectors may be used with a conventional mop and they may also be applied to a safety mop with an inclined handle. In either case, the container serves to protect hot mop fibers from a flow of air or other material which might fan them into a flame.

The constructions thus described provide a renewable safety mop with a reservoir by means of which the mop can be operated more continuously without the necessity of frequent dipping, and by means of which the mop operator may continue his work without frequent interruptions. The mop operator may also control the supply of liquid from the reservoir to the mop; he may vary the flow as the work progresses and he may entirely shut ofi the supply of liquid at any time. In these mops, an inclined handle insures a more proper application of the mopping surface without discomfort to the operator and valve control may be exercised either manually or by a movement of one foot of the operator without disrupting the continued application of liquid material from the reservoir, if desired.

When the usable portion of a mop has become worn,

it may be advanced to present more of the fibers for the close the mop fibers or strands in a protecting cartridge or casing which is more apt to maintain a sliding contact with the surface of the container in which the mop is movable for advancing and withdrawing it therein.

Material from the reservoir at the top of the mop may be fed slowly .or rapidly depending upon the kind of surface and the kind of liquid material which is being used and it is customary to heat or dip mops for bituminous material into hot vats for saturating the mop, and also filling the reservoir with highly heated or plastic material which will flow through the openings provided and into the space at the top of a'container casing and thence into and seeping through the mop as it is used.

Cotton yarn mops absorb bituminous and other material into their fibers and between the layers of strands by friction aided by cohesion. Fiber glass strands do not absorb the materials which is held by adhesion from which the material runs off quickly. For this reason, the present controlled mechanical reservoir provides a needed supply to feed material into the mop both for absorbent and nonabsorbent mop fibers.

While preferred constructions have been described in some detail, they should be regarded as illustrations or exarnples rather than as limitations or restrictions of the invention, since various changes in the construction, conbination and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A safety mop having means forming a reservoir, a

mop casing open at the bottom and depending from the reservoir, valve means connecting the reservoir and the casing, a stranded mop member in the casing, means sup porting the mop member in the casing and for projecting the strands from the bottom of the casing, the projecting means comprising an adjusting member extending through the reservoir and into the casing for engaging the mop member and moving it in both directions therein and from the lower end thereof.

2. A safety mop in accordance with claim 1, in which the valve means connecting the reservoir and the casing comprises a rotatable sleeve, and registering openings in the bottom of the sleeve, in the bottom of the reservoir and in the top of the casing which are eon-trolied by the rotation of the sleeve.

3. A safety mop in accordance with claim 2, in which the sleeve extends through and above the top of the reservoir and the upper edge of the reservoir is curved inwandly and spaced [from the sleeve to admit liquid into the reservoir and forming an anti-splash flange.

4. A safety mop in accondance with claim 3, in which the sleeve has an arm extending over the top of the casing for rotating the sleeve to vary the registration of said openings.

5. A safety mop in accordance with claim 1, in which the stranded mop member is provided with a mounting head in the casing, and the said projecting means extend ing through the valve means engaging the head, the valve means comprising a hollow rotatable sleeve, and the projecting means comprising a support mounted in the top of the casing and extending above the top of the reservoir,

the amount of opening of the valve depending upon the relative amount of rotation of the sleeve with respect to "the casing.

6. A safety mop in accordance with claim 5, in which the sleeve valve member is in the reservoir and has an arm projecting rfirom the top of the sleeve in the direction of the mop handle for adjusting the rotation orf the valve member while maintaining the mop in upright position by means of the handle.

7. A renewable safety mop in accordance with claim 5, in which said projecting means includes a supporting screw disengageable from the casing but movable with the mounting head for adjusting the strands longitudinally in the casing.

8. A renewable safety mop in accordance with claim 7, in which the mop strands are looped over a wire having overlapping portions with bendable ends, and the mounting head has an extending cross piece through which the bendable wire ends are inserted and bent to secure the mop strands in place.

9. In a renewab le safety mop in accordance with claim 5, a cover surrounding the mop strands and forming a sleeve adapted to fit within the casing so that the mop member will slide or move more freely therein and to project at one end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Baldwin Jan. 23, Leavitt Nov. 9, Fornwalt Jan. 29, Lockhar-t Sept. 23, Husch Dec. 9, Roberts July 7, Pendergast Allllg- 29, Reefi June 10, Nearn Nov. 10, Green Dec. 9, Butler Aug. 4, Vick May 27, Osako Sept. 27, Sergent Aug. 7,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of Australia Apr. 29, Great Britain Dec. 6, 

1. A SAFETY MOP HAVING MEANS FORMING A RESERVOIR, A MOP CASING OPEN AT THE BOTTOM AND DEPENDING FROM THE RESERVOIR, VALVE MEANS CONNECTING THE RESERVOIR AND THE CASING, A STRANDED MOP MEMBER IN THE CASING, MEANS SUPPORTING THE MOP MEMBER IN THE CASING AND FOR PROJECTING THE STRANDS FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE CASING, THE PROJECTING MEANS COMPRISING AN ADJUSTING MEMBER EXTENDING THROUGH THE RESERVOIR AND INTO THE CASING FOR ENGAGING THE MOP MEMBER AND MOVING IT IN BOTH DIRECTIONS THEREIN AND FROM THE LOWER END THEREOF. 